Requirement Number 2.7.4: The institution provides instruction for all course work required for at least one degree program at each level at which it awards degrees. If the institution makes arrangements for some instruction to be provided by other accredited institutions or entities through contracts or consortia, or uses some other alternative approach to meeting this requirement, the alternative approach must be approved by the Commission on Colleges. In all cases, the institution demonstrates that it controls all aspects of its educational program.

Full Compliance

Georgia Southern University fully complies with this requirement, providing instruction for all of the course work required for its degree programs at every level at which it awards degrees. The 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog contains each of the degree programs offered at Georgia Southern University as well as a description of all of the courses offered which a student may take to satisfy degree requirements (pp. 303-430). As a member institution of the University System of Georgia, Georgia Southern also has a structured Core Curriculum (see 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog, pp. 52-53) that provides basic preparation for students and allows Core Curriculum course work to transfer between University System institutions as described in the “Transfer of Core Curriculum Credit Between USG Institutions.” The Core Curriculum further ensures that credits taken toward a student’s degree will be from an appropriately accredited University System institution, if not taken at Georgia Southern. The University does offer, however, all of the necessary course work to complete the Core Curriculum in residence. Likewise, the Board of Regents approved an agreement between the University System and the Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) known as the "Mini-Core Project." According to this agreement, basic skills courses in English and mathematics with common course content will transfer between University System institutions and COC-accredited DTAE institutions. Comparable placement and exit test results will also be honored between these two Systems.

In the University System of Georgia, consortia are the accepted mode through which instruction is provided by other accredited member institutions of the University System. In arranging for off-campus programs/instruction, the president of the institution proposing such work is required to have the written concurrence of the president(s) of any other University System institution(s) located in closer geographic proximity to the site proposed for the off-campus course work if the closer institution(s) has approved degrees, programs, or courses in the subject area. Georgia Southern has developed and maintains several consortial arrangements to further its mission of “advancing the State of Georgia and the region through the benefits of higher education, offering baccalaureate through doctoral degrees and a variety of outreach programs.”¹ Georgia Southern University offers resident graduate and/or undergraduate credit in off-campus locations in Brunswick, GA ( Brunswick Center), Hinesville, GA ( Liberty Center), Dublin, GA ( Dublin Center), and Savannah, GA ( Coastal Georgia Center).

In addition to the above programs, Georgia Southern University also participates in the WebMBA Consortium. The WebMBA program is a two-year, lockstep, Internet-based, ten-course program offered through a five-university consortium (comprised of Georgia Southern University, Georgia College and State University, Kennesaw State University, Valdosta State University, and the State University of West Georgia). Enrolled students take all of their program courses through these five universities, all of which have an MBA program accredited by AASCB International—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Board of Regents has just approved a similar consortial arrangement for a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) degree offered online by five University System institutions.

The University also offers several programs with other accredited institutions, such as the Regents’ Engineering Transfer Program (RETP) and the Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program (GTREP). These programs are designed to allow students to transfer after two years to the Georgia Institute of Technology or to other engineering schools in the southeastern United States (see 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog , pp. 225-226). The Medical Technology program at Georgia Southern allows students to transfer to Armstrong Atlantic State University for the Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology (see 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog , p. 135).

In virtually every single one of the above cited programs, instruction is provided by Georgia Southern and/or by an appropriately accredited institution. Indeed, with the exception of the DTAE agreement, current consortia are limited to University System of Georgia institutions which are all accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Moreover, as mandated by the Board of Regents Academic Affairs Handbook (§ 2.12.02), institutions can only offer off-campus course work when that course work is of a quality equivalent to that given on their campus. This requirement pertains to every aspect of an educational program, including qualifications of faculty and staff, library resources, facilities, and the material and equipment needed to support off-campus work. Georgia Southern University also publishes in its 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog the following statement: “Admission requirements to credit-bearing distance learning courses are the same as admission requirements to courses offered in the traditional classroom.”² Furthermore, Georgia Southern strictly adheres to the Board of Regents’ requirement (see Academic Affairs Handbook, § 2.12.02) that no more than one-fourth of the work required for an undergraduate degree and one-half of the work required for a master's degree can be earned off-campus unless taken in an approved residence center or in an authorized external degree program or cooperative career associate degree program.

¹ Georgia Southern University Mission Statement.

² 2004-2005 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog (p. 14, “Distance Learning Center”).